Love Like Winter
by XxSweet-NightmarexX
Summary: Ben wants love. Sweeney wants blood. Lucy wants Ben. 'She said, "It seems your somewhere far away"'...


**Disclaimer: I credit legends, Stephen Sondheim, and Tim Burton for Sweeney, and Johnny Depp for this particular vision of Sweeney. The band AFI owns Love Like Winter. The idea is that Benjamin's love for Lucy is like the frozen snow of winter, Sweeney is the vicious biting cold of winter causing Ben to freeze, and Lucy is the warm summer that will one day melt him.****  
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**Love Like Winter**

I was dreaming again. She was there again. She. The angel from long ago. It was nigh impossible to recall her features perfectly when awake. However, my unconscious had preserved her image perfectly, her hair radiant in the sunlight, her eyes bright. I felt my heart starting to break again just at the sight. Only in dreams was I the man I once was. Or, more like a shadow of my former self. A memory. Her radiance didn't fit the surroundings. Snow fell, gathering on the ground, blowing wickedly against my face, making it sting. But looking at her, you would think it summer. A foolish thought. My dreams were never so warm.

_Warn your warmth to turn away._

_Here it's December everyday._

_Press your lips to the sculptures and surely you'll stay._

_For of sugar and ice, I am made,_

_I am made,_

When I was asleep, _he_wasn't so dominant. When I was awake, he was the only presence. He was driven by revenge, I was mourning my life, my family, the home we had, everything. Sweeney, that vile creature driven only by revenge, was slowly forgetting the true cause of the vengefulness. Slowly his heart ached less and less. But by night, mine ached more and more, by each passing day. He was not around when Lucy was mine. He was not even a concept in my mind. Now look at me. I'd lost count of how many I'd let bleed for my vengeance.

_It's in the blood, It's in the blood,_

_I met my love before I was born!_

_He wanted love, I taste of blood,_

_He bit my lip and drank my war from years before._

I started towards my Lucy, longing to be close to her, to wrap my arms around her and tell her it was all right. But with each step, she just seemed farther away. She looked back at me, her back turned so it was all I saw other than her face. She smiled at me, a sad little smile. I felt my heart shattering as it had so many times before.

"It seems your somewhere far away," she breathed, and I was somehow able to hear.

_She exhales vanilla lace,_

_I barely dreamt her yesterday,_

_Read the lines on the mirror through the lipstick trace,_

_She said, 'It seems your somewhere far away,' to his face._

What did she mean? I took another step forward, trying to reach her, tell her she was wrong, I was right by her, I was doing this all for her. But each step seemed to make her more distant. I felt the pain etched on my face. I knew she could see it. And yet, she still smiled at me.

"Please! I'm right here! Don't leave me!" I found myself crying, staring desperately at her, wanting her to realize, wanting her to understand. Her gaze was filled with love, but also something else… I couldn't tell what. She turned, carefully, approaching me slowly. Her hand rested on the side of my face, briefly, before she turned and walked away.

_It's in the blood, It's in the blood,_

_I met my love before I was born!_

_She wanted love, I taste of blood,_

_She bit my lip and drank my war from years before._

_From years before…_

I followed her, trying to catch up, but despite the fact that she was walking and I was running, she stayed a good distance away from me. Soon, I started to loose my way, loosing sight of her brilliant, sunny radiance that had been like my hope incarnated. Soon, I was wandering alone in the snowy forest, the wind whipping harshly against my face. I felt something cold there. I realized I was crying. Sobs racked through my body as I struggled to find her again. But I also felt _him_ stir. _He _was waking, and that would mean I would be lost again soon. I suddenly found myself on the edge of a frozen lake, extremely wide and, from the dark color of the ice, very deep. A shining light was on the other side, and I felt my heart ache again.

_Love like winter,_

_Love like winter,_

_Winter,_

_Three, four!_

Suddenly, I decided to look down into the ice. I wanted to see what made her say I was so far away. I wanted to know…I had to know…how much of a toll my revenge was taking on me. I looked down into the ice, and my dark black eyes widened as they took in my pallor, my dark, unruly hair, and the single white streak. Then, suddenly, without going through any ice, I falling through the water, staring up at the same ice I had been looking into. Only the face I saw wasn't a reflection. It was _him, _staring down at me, and I could see my scared expression in the ice, faintly. I cried out for help, but he turned away.

_It's in the blood, it's in the blood,_

_I met my love before I was born!_

_He wanted love, I taste of blood,_

_He bit my lip and drank my war from years before…_

Sweeney awoke, bolting upright in his little bed, a picture frame falling to the floor with a resounding _clunk. _The demon barber looked down at it, then reached down to pick it up. He stared at the pictures inside for a moment, then strode across the room to place it back on the dresser. Without another thought he climbed back into bed and slept.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Barker was trying to claw his way to the surface. Before long, his movements slowed, until he was frozen below the surface, awaiting someone to bring him back. Awaiting his Lucy, to warm him with her touch.

Love like winter.


End file.
